1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a bus bar holder with at least one bus bar receiver formed in a support element, having a width that can be varied for receiving bus bars of different cross sections by an adapter element, which can be plugged or locked in a holding structure with a matched and complementary holding structure in a bottom area.
2. Discussion of Related Art
A bus bar holder of this type is taught by German Patent Reference DE 86 09 413 U1. With this known bus bar holder, several bus bar receivers are arranged in a supporting lower element, widths of the bar receivers can be adapted to different widths of bus bars by using an adapter element, so that the bus bars can be held laterally immovably and fixed in place by a top element. The adapter elements lockingly engage with spring legs in a continuous groove cut into the upper bottom area of the bus bar receiver in the longitudinal direction and are maintained therein displaceable in the longitudinal direction, wherein they engage counter-tooth arrangements on the contact surface of the lower element with tooth arrangements.
A further bus bar holder is disclosed by German Patent Reference DE 32 06 417 A1, wherein insertion elements for adaptation to various bar cross sections can be inserted into a bus bar receiver. One insertion element of the corresponding cross section is provided for each different cross section.
With a bus bar holder disclosed by German Patent Reference DE 88 04 559 U1, bus bars of different cross sections can also be fixed in place in bus bar receivers with holding elements.
One object of this invention is to provide a bus bar holder of the type mentioned above but with a simple adaptation to various bus bar cross sections, which is achieved with a few simple parts.
This object is accomplished with the invention discussed in the claims and in this specification. For adapting the bus bar receiver in the depth direction, there is a separate spacer which can be removably attached on the bottom area of the bus bar receiver and which has a free space in the area of the holding structure, through which the holding structure is accessible for inserting the adapter element.
With the spacer, which is separate from the adapter elements, an adaptation to many different bus bar cross sections is achieved with simple elements, wherein the adapter elements can be inserted in the same way whether or not there is a spacer present.
The spacer can be easily inserted because on an underside facing the bottom area, the spacer has at least one protrusion, and at least one hole for the plug-in or locked-in fastening of the protrusion or protrusions is provided in the bottom area.
In one embodiment, the spacer has a U-shaped or rectangular outer contour. The free space is rectangular and the at least one protrusion is arranged under at least one transverse strip of the spacer.
Furthermore, for inserting the adapter elements and supporting the bus bars the steps are advantageous, wherein the holding structure is formed in a recess in the bottom area.
In this embodiment, the holding structures are cut at the inner wall sides, which border the recess in the longitudinal direction of a bus bar to be inserted. The spacer rests with lateral areas on the corresponding wall areas.
Manufacture and manipulation are advantageously affected because the complementary structure is embodied on the two narrow long sides of the adapter element, which is flat in a front view. With the adapter elements thus embodied, and together with the holding structures in the recess, it is possible for strengthening the support and thus to also employ, for example, two adapter elements which rest with their flat sides on each other.
Added stabilization of the support is achieved because at the bottom of the recess there is at least one cutout which the complementary structure engages with additional structure sections.
A solid assembly results because for fixing the bus bar in place, bores for attaching a holding device, and further bores for mounting the support element on a base are cut into the top of the support element.
Also, for manipulating and securing the bus bars, the holding device is embodied as a one-piece cover, which extends over all bus bar receivers and can be screwed or locked onto the support element.
Additional stability for fixing the bus bars in place is thus achieved because on its underside facing the support element, the cover has hollow spaces, which are matched to the respective head pieces of the adapter elements for their reception in the inserted state and are arranged corresponding to the various insertion positions of the adapter elements in the support element, or have further holding structures, so that for example there is a secure fixation in place of the bus bar, in the event of a short circuit.
There are various advantageous design options according to this invention because a hollow space with further holding structures is provided per bus bar receiver in the cover, or several individual hollow spaces correspond to various insertion positions of the adapter elements.
If protrusions for pressing the bus bar or bus bars against the cover are provided on the underside of the cover, the bus bar is fixed in place in its receiver.